A Generation at Risk: Child Abuse in Azerbaijan

Intro: Protection Crisis

Child abuse is a big, complicated issue in Azerbaijan. It's not just a few bad situations. It's a problem with the whole system, caused by people who should be protecting kids—parents and government people. Legal holes, nobody doing anything about it, and the idea that people can get away with it all make it worse. This writing looks at three main parts of the problem. Abuse by parents, police acting violently, and the government not doing what it should. Looking at these things shows how bad the abuse is, how it hurts kids now and later, and what in society and politics lets it keep happening.

Betrayal at Home: Parents Taking Advantage

Home should be a safe place for kids, but it's often where they get hurt the most. More and more kids in Azerbaijan are in danger from their own families. This can include really bad sexual abuse, using them for money, and even using them in new ways online. It's messed up when parents who are supposed to keep their kids safe instead hurt them, just to get money or be famous.

Kids as Products

Some parents are doing really horrible things, like using their kids for sex or money. Feminist activist Gülnara Mehdiyeva talked about a case where a mom in Baku was supposedly selling her 14-year-old daughter.

 Mehdiyeva said, She dresses her daughter in revealing clothes and makeup every day and takes her out, saying she sells her to rich people for 500 manat.

 This case makes other problems clear. Police and the anti-trafficking department knew about it for two years but didn't do anything to stop it.

 It's not the only time this has happened. Mehdiyeva said there were other cases, like a mom who told her daughters to send private pictures to men, and a TV report about a 15-year-old girl whose mom sent her to her boss.

 Sometimes, adults will gain a child's trust only to abuse the child sexually. In Nakhchivan, a guy named Sənan Pənahov abused a 15-year-old boy after giving him a phone. He threatened the child to keep him quiet. The victim's dad said, They gave the child 15-20 manat and said that if you tell your parents, we will kill you.

Online Crap and Sharenting

Parents have new ways of abusing kids online. Some parents share content about their kids on social media, but it turns into using kids to get attention. For example, a dad who made videos of his young child swearing got locked up for 30 days. The reason was that his posts were unethical and disrespectful. He was just using his child's bad behavior to get famous online.

 The media also did something wrong in this case. They reported on the dad's arrest but then showed the child's face and name in an article. They were supposedly against abuse but then did it themselves. This kind of thing puts kids in the public eye and can harm them mentally. It's like their childhood is just something to be watched online.

Family Abuse Problems

The problems from this kind of betrayal can be really bad and stick around for a long time. Mehriban Zeynalova, who runs the “Təmiz Dünya” shelter, says that if kids don't get help fast, they can have mental problems that cause bad behavior later in life. Plus, victims often have problems making friends and fitting in. The dad of the 15-year-old boy who was abused in Nakhchivan said his son was kicked out of school and other activities. This shows that the kid was punished even though he was the victim. What happens at home is similar to what happens with the government, where the people who should be protecting kids are actually hurting them.

State Violence: Police Abuse

 When police hurt kids in Azerbaijan, it's not just a mistake, it's a usual thing that makes people not trust the government. The police are supposed to protect people, but when they hurt and scare kids, it ruins everything for young people's safety.

Getting Hit and Paying Up

Recently, there have been cases of police hurting kids. In one case, some police beat and humiliated children, and it was all recorded. A child said, Why are you hitting me? It hurts.” It has happened before. Also, five kids aged 14-15 were taken from a park by police to a dark, lonely place before getting beaten. They were only let go after their parents paid the police. It happens so often that if you've been to a police area in the country, you know it well.

Scaring People to Keep Them Quiet

The government also uses its power to stop people from speaking out, especially young people. For example, after a 17-year-old student Elgun Ibrahimov died, young people protested, wanting a real investigation because they thought the government was covering up a murder. The police stopped them before the protest could even start. Over 50 young people, including some as young as 13, were taken.

The plan was to scare everyone. The police took phones, looked at messages, and took fingerprints. One police chief told the kids that if they protested, he would kill them.

It didn't only happen in the capital. In the Gazakh district, students who showed posters about Elgun's death were targeted. One person who helped them was locked up for 15 days, and the police asked students' families to pay them for their release.

Getting Away With It

The police are going against their own rules. They aren't supposed to treat people badly or use torture or threats. But they keep doing it and get away with it because the media doesn't talk about it. In a state that held people accountable, a scandal like this would make the minister quit, but the media praises the president instead. Because the government lets them get away with it, police and parents can keep abusing kids.

A System That Looks Away: The Government Not Doing Enough

Abuse doesn't just happen. It's because there's something wrong with Azerbaijan's laws and government. This part talks about the bad laws, the government not doing its job, and society's attitude that lets child abuse keep happening,

Bad Laws

The laws in Azerbaijan aren't good enough to safeguard kids from abuse. Lawyer Zibeydə Sadıqova says the laws have openings that allow people to get away with abuse. For example:

The Criminal Code doesn't fully define child sexual abuse, which makes it hard to go after abusers.

Laws don't really cover online abuse, like using private pictures without permission or blackmailing.

It's not clear if a child can give consent legally.

Also, the punishments aren't as harsh as in other countries, so the laws don't stop people from doing bad things.

Country	Maximum Penalty for Child Sexual Abuse
Azerbaijan	3–10 years in jail
United Kingdom	Life in jail
United States	25 years to life in some states
Turkey	Up to 30 years in jail

Sadıqova says that if the worst punishment is fewer than 10 years, it won't stop someone from hurting a child.

Institutions Failure and Blaming Victims

The government and media should be safeguarding victims, but they make things worse by not acting and blaming the kids instead. In the Yasamal case, officers supposedly didn't do anything for two years, even though they knew a 14-year-old girl was being abused.

When people talk about abuse, they take actions that blame the victim. The 15-year-old who was abused in Nakhchivan was kicked out of school. His dad asked, “Why do they admit a 15-year-old child to a hotel?”

After a doctor confirmed the boy had been abused, the detective didn't believe it, saying, That is not considered good by us; it is not legal. This is a problem with the whole system, since they ignore their evidence to protect bad people.

The media also makes it seem like the victims are to blame. After the death of 17-year-old Elgun Ibrahimov, they said he killed himself. They showed photos of him drinking beer and said his mom was bad. By pointing fingers at the victim, the media stops people from looking at other angles.

Commitments vs. Real world

Azerbaijan says it wants to safeguard its children. It has signed international agreements. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Council of Europe's Lanzarote Convention Both say the state must have ways to stop abuse, protect kids, and come in when needed.

But the cases in this report show that what Azerbaijan says it will do and what happens to children are two different things. There aren't good ways to investigate, help victims mentally, or give them legal help. The country is not doing what it promised, betraying its own children.

Conclusion: Stop the Abuse

Child abuse in Azerbaijan is a crisis. It happens in families and at the hands of police, and the legal system prioritizes getting away with it.

How does this crap happen? It happens with police hurting and taking money; parents using kids for money and sex; and the government trying to keep young people quiet.

What are the results? Bad mental feelings that remain for a lifetime. Victims are blamed, and people don't trust the groups that are supposed to safeguard them.

Why does this crap continue? The punishments aren't harsh enough, there's no good protection, and the media attacks victims instead of those who are wrong.

This report shows that Azerbaijan needs to abide by its promises to keep kids safe. Until then, a whole generation will be at risk.